


You May Find Your Place To Run To

by gilligankane



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-18
Updated: 2012-12-18
Packaged: 2017-11-21 10:32:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,981
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/596711
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gilligankane/pseuds/gilligankane
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Regina meets the wolf haunting The Queen's Road.</p>
            </blockquote>





	You May Find Your Place To Run To

**Author's Note:**

  * For [missanomalous](https://archiveofourown.org/users/missanomalous/gifts).



> This was originally a part of something else, but this is what I ended up with.

Regina may be the Evil Queen with an army of men at her bidding and magic sparking from her fingertips. But all of that fades as the wet cloud of breath settles over her, the wolf-like creature in front of her inching closer. There had been reports from the subjects that traveled The Queen’s Road, of a beast lingering in the shadows of the trees cast by the full moon. Regina had been quick to dismiss them, but when one of her Heartless, her elite, is found mutilated just outside of her gate, she is spurred into action.

Foolishly, she goes by herself.

She won’t give her father the satisfaction of allowing him to know that she was wrong to leave behind her guard, but she will see to it that she makes sure to always have them within reach.

The beast is larger than any wolf her Huntsman had leashed to his side. It slinks forward with none of the sleekness of any creature of the forest. It limbers awkwardly towards her, breathing as if it has just run from one edge of her world to the other. It pants against her neck and shoulder and she feels the moisture settle in. It’s disgusting and degrading and she straightens up, a branch in her hand. The beast just needs a good swatting across the nose, she decides. To show it who is boss.

But as she lifts her arm, the beast recoils, inching back and making a noise that sounds like a whimper. Regina leans closer to hear it again and is shocked when the beast moves further back, its dark fur blending in with the brush.

“Come,” Regina breathes out, against her better judgment.

The beast’s eyes flash, flecks of gold catching the setting sun. It takes a few cautious steps forward but shies away from Regina’s outstretched hand. It’s like a horse, Regina decides. A powerful beast too afraid of its own strength to be careful around people who pose a threat. She holds entirely still and lets the beast come to her, like she’s meeting a horse for the first time.

It seems to work well enough that Regina relaxes her arm and lets it bend at the elbow. The beast comes closer, its wet nose bumping against Regina’s hand briefly. It pulls back, waiting for a blow, Regina imagines. When she doesn’t move, the beast comes close again, lingering this time. It dips its head enough that Regina’s hand rests on the crown of its head, feeling its matted fur.

There’s a sound of a horse neighing in the distance and it startles the beast enough that Regina pulls her hand away, holding it against her chest like she was burned. The beast’s eyes are wide and there’s something about them, a depth, that holds Regina in place, breath caught in her throat.

The beast scampers off when the horse whinnies again. Regina notes that it is not as clumsy-footed as she thought earlier. In fact, there is a gracefulness about its gait, the way its legs move and its body follows as it fades into the forest.

Regina might be hardpressed to admit that it’s almost graceful.

*

Regina asks to be updated about the beast and receives monthly reports about it calling in the night. She sneaks out when she can, to see the beast and run her hands through its fur. She tells it her name, her stories. She’s not sure why, but the beast stares at her with a look in its eyes like it understand her and it won’t judge her and Regina begins to crave the safety of the beast’s silence. One night, it nuzzles under her arm and she fall asleep against a tree trunk, waking alone.

Time passes quickly and before she knows it, she hears the beast howling for her in the distance. Leaving her guards in their stations, she pulls a cloak tightly around her shoulders and takes off towards the stronghold gate, a torch to light her way in hand. It’s not hard to find the beast if she stops and listens. It huffs and scratches at tree trunks restlessly like a siren’s song until she comes to a clearing and sees it standing at attention, waiting for her. Regina grins, coming to a stop. The beast rises off its haunches and bounds forward, nearly knocking her down with its playful hello. “Yes,” she coos, scratching the beast behind the ears. “Yes, hello.”

She swears she only turns her back for a second, to pick out the piece of meat she packed into a basket, but when she turns again, she nearly faints.

The beast is gone and in its place is a young girl, shivering against the cold winter night, covered only in a red cloak. Regina’s gasp is caught in her throat, her surprise overriding her almost-natural response to defend herself. The young girl looks up at her, teeth chattering, and Regina is drawn to her eyes, how they flash gold-like in her torchlight.

“Regina,” the girl gasps. “I don’t…”

Regina pulls back, shrouding the girl in darkness.

“Regina,” the girl calls again, rising to her feet shakily. She pitches forward dangerously and against her better judgment, Regina reaches out, steadying her. The girl has long dark hair the same color as the beast’s. Her eyes shine just as brightly. When the girl pants heavily against her shoulder, it almost feels the same.

Against her better judgment, Regina finds herself slipping her arm under the girl’s shoulder, hoisting her up and holding her closer. “Come,” she says softly, “try to stay quiet.”

The girl whimpers every few steps, but they make it to the castle and in through the kitchen doors. She mutters under her breath and every guard they pass looks right through them as if they don’t exist. The girl grows heavy in her arms and by the time they reach her bedchambers, Regina’s arms ache.

She drops the girl rather gracelessly onto the floor by the fireplace and sags back into a chair, taking measured breaths. By the time she regains her composure, the girl is leaning towards the flame, taking in the warmth. She looks back over her shoulder at Regina, giving her a hesitant smile.

“Regina-”

Regina cuts her off quickly. “In this castle, I am Queen. And you will address me as such.”

The girl stands, her legs still shaking. It reminds Regina that should find clothes, and quickly, lest her father come into her chambers and discover a near-naked girl standing before her. “My Queen,” she corrects, her mouth twitching up in a soft smile. “I didn’t mean to startle you. I didn’t… I didn’t actually think I would… change back.”

“You’re a werewolf,” Regina states simply.

The girl nods. “My name is Red.”

Regina can’t help but snort softly. “Little Red Riding Hood is the Big Bad Wolf.”

Red ducks her head a bit and her features fade in the shadow. “It’s a curse,” she mutters. “I can’t control it. Except for…”

“Except for you changing back into a human tonight.” Regina comes to her senses and starts rooting around for a bedcloak the girl can wear for now. “You remember things? From wolf form to human?” she asks, her curiosity getting the better of her.

“I remember,” Red says quietly, her eyes still trained on the floor.

Foolish girl, Regina thinks. Foolish girl. She must know that the things Regina told the beast were things she would never tell another human, save her father. She must realize the implications of that.

“You deceived a Queen.”

“Not intentionally,” Red rushes to add. “I just… I wanted to see you. With my eyes, not the wolf’s. I wanted to meet you. I could never… as me. I could never do that if I was just the way I am now. But you liked the wolf. I just wanted to meet you.”

Regina stays silent, thrusting the bedcloak at the girl. She turns her back as Red slides into it, only turning back when she hears no movement for a short period of time. The girl’s hair tumbles loose around her shoulders in dark waves and she looks so childlike with her hands folded together, her shoulders hunched. Regina slips forward, a hand curling under Red’s chin, lifting her face. She is so, impossibly young.

“How old are you?” she asks, studying the girl’s face. She has hardly any lines on it, save one small crease over her eyes, probably from furrowing her brow in thought.

“I’m almost 20 summers, my Queen,” Red breathes out.

“Where do you live?”

Red blinks twice before answering. “With my Granny, at the edge of your land that touches King Stefan’s realm.”

Regina resists the urge to roll her eyes. Poor King Stefan and his wife, eternally doomed to a life of sleep until Prince Phillip gathers enough nerve to overcome Maleficent’s pet dragon.

“That’s at least a four day journey, dear,” Regina says, making a tisk sound under her breath.

Red shakes her head. “I can run very, very fast.”

Regina can’t stop the small smile that threatens to split wide across her lips. “Every full moon, you run from the edge of the realm to my castle?”

Red nods silently.

“Why?”

“At first, it was an accident. I wanted to see how far I could go. And I ended up following The Queen’s Road to the castle gates. And then I ran back. The next full moon, I decided to come back. More time alone in the woods meant that… Well, it meant I couldn’t hurt anyone.”

Regina straightens up with a memory, her hand moving away from Red’s face. She sets her mouth in a thin line. “You killed one of my guard.”

Red ducks her head and pulls at the bedcloak, reveling a scar that stands out raw against her pale skin. It looks like the mark of an arrowhead, Gaston’s weapon of choice. “The wolf… I don’t take well to being attacked.”

“Fair enough,” Regina manages to say, her fingers reaching up and brushing against the rippled skin. Red flinches just slightly under her touch and for a reason Regina immediately stamps down, she pulls her hand away, afraid to hurt the girl any further. “You continued to come back.”

“You’re fascinating,” Red breathes out, her face flushing with her embarrassment instantly. “I mean, there’s something about you I couldn’t ignore.” 

“Yes,” Regina murmurs. There was something about the wolf that kept her, too, coming back each month, waiting for that ghostly howl to echo through the castle walls.

It’s a dangerous thought. She doesn’t know this girl or what she is capable of – though, standing in a bedcloak, with her hair loose around her shoulders that way, she looks as capable as young Snow did and that is a lesson Regina will not learn twice. The fact remains, this girl knows Regina’s secrets and she will not slip out into the woods with them again. The girl must stay. The girl must be locked up in  cage in the dungeon and she must stay until Regina has decided she is no longer a threat.

But the girl looks up and Regina finds herself nudging her towards the bed instead. “Sleep,” she says, noting the circles forming under Red’s eyes and the way her shoulders are pulled taut with exhaustion. “We shall discuss this in the morning.”

Red exhales heavily, gearing up to what Regina is sure will be a thank you she does not want, so she turns her back instead, busying herself with turning a chair towards the fire exactly so. By the time she turns back around, the girl is stretched across the bed, hair wild against the white sheets, snoring softly.

Regina turns away before she allows herself to stare for too long.


End file.
